1402-1413

The Interregnum : Bayezid's four sons fight each other for the throne, which is eventually won by Çelebi Mehmed I (1412-1420).

1423-1430

War between Venice and the reconsolidating Ottoman state-the first of many for supremacy in the Aegean and the Mediterranean, and ultimately for control over the traditional trade routes of the Old World.

1448

Second battle of Kossova consolidates the Ottoman rule in Balkans.

1451

With the death of Murad II, his son Mehmed II ascends the throne for the second and final time, and immediately launches preparations for...

1453

The conquest of Constaninople (Istanbul), which becomes the fourth and last Ottoman capital. The remaining 29 years of Mehmed II's reign witness the decisive conquest or reconquest of Serbia, Albania and Greece in the West as well as most of Anatolia. The whole course of this second great Ottoman advance into the Balkans is marked by wars with Venice for control of the Adriatic shoreline.

1454

Construction work begins on the Topkapi Palace.

1492

Columbus 'discovers' the Bahamas.

1454-1481

Greece, Trebizond and Crimea conquered.

1481-1512

The peaceful reign of Bayezid II is marred by a conservative religious reaction against the Conqueror's cosmopolitan cultural outlook and strong centralization drive. From 1500 onwards, the Safavids of Iran begin to take advantage of Ottoman passivity in pushing their Shiite proselytizing efforts into Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia.